Question NW765 to the Minister of Water and Sanitation
02 May 2023 - NW765
Basson, Mr LJ to ask the Minister of Water and Sanitation
(1)What is the breakdown of the costs to his department of the water infrastructure backlog in each province; (2) what (a) number of litres are lost in each day as a result of water infrastructure failures and (b) is the estimated cost related to water theft?
Reply:
1. The projections for capital requirement to address the water infrastructure backlogs over the next 10 years include (a) refurbishment and renewal of ageing infrastructure; (b) upgrades to serve increases in service levels and sustain effective service delivery; as well as (c) new infrastructure for growing human settlements and new economic nodes. The estimated cost requirement is R89,9 billion per annum over the next 10 years and is summarized below.
|
10 Year Infrastructure Cost |
New |
Upgrade |
Rehab |
Total |
|
Water |
29,2 |
9,1 |
32,1 |
70,4 |
|
Sanitation |
8,9 |
4,2 |
6,4 |
19,5 |
|
Total |
38,1 |
13,3 |
38,5 |
89,9 |
2. (a) According to the 2021 data, about 1 349 797 000 kl/ annum (at an average of 3 698 074 kl/day per day) is lost as a result of infrastructure failure, overflows from reservoirs and other leakages from municipal distribution systems.
(b) The commercial losses (336 559 712 kl/annum) are estimated to be 20% of total water losses and include unauthorised connections, meter inaccuracies and data transfer errors. Illegal connections are is estimated to be about 6% (20 193 583 kl/annum) of commercial losses. The estimated average cost of supplying water per kl in South Africa is R 12,41/kl and therefore the cost related to unauthorised connections (theft) is R 250 602 365 per annum.
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